“He’s feistier than people realise” - Nathan Aspinall reveals the surprise PDC star he argues with more than anyone

Nathan Aspinall has named Danny Noppert as the player he argues with more than anyone else on the PDC circuit, revealing a fiery side rarely seen from the usually reserved Dutchman.

Noppert has built a reputation as one of the quieter characters in professional darts. The former UK Open champion seldom displays much emotion on stage and has largely stayed clear of the confrontations and controversies that can follow players around the tour.

Aspinall says the version encountered behind the scenes can be rather different. “Do you know, the one guy I argue the most with or have bust-ups with is Danny Noppert,” he told The Sun. “He comes across dead quiet but he’s a feisty little b******. It’s everyone else’s fault but himself.”

There is no serious bad blood between them, however. “I don’t hate him. Danny Noppert is a really nice guy,” Aspinall added. “But he is a t** sometimes.” In Aspinall’s experience, the understated Dutchman is simply feistier than people realise.

The surprising admission about Noppert came during a candid discussion about Aspinall’s own difficult 2026 season. Despite winning the German Darts Grand Prix, the former World Matchplay champion has struggled to reproduce the consistency of his three-title European Tour campaign in 2025. Matters away from the oche have also prevented darts from always being his main focus.

“Everyone has stuff going on in their life. Unfortunately, I can’t hide away from it behind a desk,” he said. “I’m on stage and I am trying to perform and I have other stuff going on. I have been doing well. Darts has not been my priority this year.”

The biggest blow came before the season had properly gathered pace. Aspinall was omitted from the 2026 Premier League Darts despite qualifying for Finals Night in the previous edition, ending a run of three consecutive appearances in the weekly competition. “Not getting the Premier League killed me. It really did,” he admitted. “I have not really admitted that. But it absolutely killed me.”

Missing out also left Aspinall on the outside of most of the World Series schedule. His only appearance came at the Bahrain Darts Masters after another player withdrew.

“No World Series events apart from Bahrain because somebody didn’t want to go,” he said. “So, I filled in. I have had a few knockbacks this year, but my career has been about knockbacks.”

Without those regular television opportunities, the travelling became increasingly difficult to justify when the results were not following. “It’s tough when you’re not winning,” Aspinall explained. “You’re away a lot from your kids and Mrs. Then you’re tipping up to these tournaments playing rubbish. Then you’re going back home on another flight with another disappointing weekend. It is hard to keep going.”

Aspinall found renewed encouragement at the World Matchplay, where he defeated Joe Cullen 10-5 before pushing Luke Littler through a high-quality second-round contest.

Littler opened the match with a nine-darter and averaged 113.68, but Aspinall recovered to level at 7-7 and later produced a 170 checkout before the world No.1 completed an 11-8 victory.

Aspinall averaged above 100 in defeat and gave the eventual champion his closest match of the tournament. More importantly, the two performances altered how he felt about returning to the circuit. “Those two games and tournament last week gave me the love back for the game,” he said.

Aspinall remains 16th on the PDC Order of Merit, leaving him on the edge of the seedings places he has occupied for much of his career. Blackpool did not deliver the deep run he needed, but it sent him into the second half of the season with far more than another early exit to show for it.